Amendment 4 passed, felons' right to vote restored: Cecilia Thompson, Orlando Torrence talk about the importance of their right to vote
Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY

Cecilia Thompson, talks about what it means to her to get her voting rights restored. She went to prison when she was 18 for drugs. In the background is Pastor Jarvis Wash of the R.E.A.L, Church, who helped Cecilia turn her life around. . (Photo: Malcolm Denemark/FLORIDA TODAY)

The year was 2008 and the single mother of six – like millions of other Americans – found herself captivated by a message of hope from a lanky senator from Illinois named Barack Obama.

But as hot as the fire for her newfound political passion burned, there was one problem: as an ex-felon, Thomas could not vote.

"It hurt," she said, reflecting on the feeling of hearing others talk about their intention to put an African-American in the White House.

Until last week, Florida — along with Iowa and Kentucky — was one of three states that barred anyone who has committed a felony from casting a ballot.

The impact

Now, in the aftermath of the 2018 midterm elections, change has come. More than 60 percent of Florida voters chose on Election Day to restore voting rights to people with prior felonies, amending the state constitution and changing the face of the Florida electorate.

The passage of Amendment 4 gives back the full citizenship rights to the state’s 1.5 million ex-felons who — like Thomas — were convicted and completed sentences for past crimes. The exception: those who committed violent offenses such as murder or sexual offenses.

The amendment will have an outsize effect on the African-American population, who are arrested and incarcerated at a higher rate than any other group. More than one in five African-Americans in Florida can’t vote because of a felony conviction, according to estimates by the Sentencing Project, a Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan research group that advocates to resolve racial disparities in America's criminal justice system,

The effects of Amendment 4 will likely be felt during the 2020 election. Florida is a swing state, and if the ongoing tension over the close races for governor and senator are any indication, the 1.5 million additional voters could be an important factor in a 2020 contest.

But for many former convicts, whether they actually choose to vote in 2020 is right now less important than the emotion of feeling like a whole citizen.

"It means I can participate, that I can have my say," Thomas said, sitting in the headquarters of a local after-school program where she volunteers as a teacher's aide.

Thomas, now 48-years-old, considers her work and newfound political emancipation as crowning achievements in her efforts to turn her life around.

The restoration of her voting rights comes as her understanding of the struggles of others — and the political issues underneath — deepened through her own personal tragedies.

"There was so much, I've been through so much," she said tearfully.

Originally from Orlando, Thomas' life as a young woman in the City Beautiful was dictated by bad choices, desperation and the pressure to support her family by selling drugs. Then came time in the penitentiary, now a distant, dark memory.

In 2015, she was shot 11 times while in her home by unknown assailants. She experienced the health care system firsthand, being released from the hospital after only three days.

"I had to recover in a hotel," Thomas recalled.

She rolls up her pants leg to show the outline of one of the 10 bullets she still carries in her body.

Then a few months later, in May 2015, her 22-year-old son Ira Robinson Jr. was gunned down on an Orange County street, also by unknown gunmen. She ended up losing her home and was living in her truck before moving to Brevard County and receiving help from the R.E.A.L Church in Cocoa.

Just the thought of having a home and a chance to vote for things that matter to her, such as health care, criminal justice and education, makes her feel like she has a voice for the first time in her adult life, Thomas said.

That sense of freedom for Thomas and many like her was more than even the proponents of Amendment 4 had dared to imagine.

“I was overwhelmed thinking about the families and people who are going to get their voice back,” said Neil Volz, the political director for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, an organization founded for “returning citizens,” as former felons prefer to call themselves.

“There’s now a group of voters who want to discuss issues like criminal justice reform, jobs, and education for people who have felony convictions,” he said. “These are people who aren’t focusing on moving right or left, but are committed to moving forward.”

Here and now

For all the controversy and vote recounts that have marked Florida's mid-term elections, Amendment 4 emerged as a winning issue that crossed party lines. It encountered little resistance, achieving the 60 percent support it needed for passage.

“That’s because these were votes for love,” said Desmond Meade, state director for the Florida Live Free Campaign, which supported the amendment.

Orlando Torrence talks about what it means to have his voting rights restored. He had been in prison twice and has turned his life around. The ability to vote makes his feel like he is part of society. . (Photo: Malcolm Denemark/FLORIDA TODAY)

Meade, who became the voice of the restoration movement, traveled the state, spoke nationally, appealed to Congress and went to the United Nations to talk about what he called the disenfranchisement of Florida’s returning citizens.

“These votes weren’t cast out of fear or anger or mistrust. People were voting for their family members and friends who couldn’t vote. They were voting for forgiveness.”

The next step, said Meade, is to have the Amendment certified for the state constitution.

“"I just want to say, thank you, thank you, thank you to the people of Florida for doing this"”

Cecilia Thomas

“What we accomplished was something special,” Meade said. “We hope it can be an example. You’d assume this would be divisive, but it brought people together. We got votes from both parties. That’s something beautiful.”

For blacks, the system that barred felons from voting was a reminder of a time when slaves were considered just 3/5th's of a person as part of a political compromise embedded in the U.S. Constitution. The colonial-era article was later stricken with the post-Civil War passage of the 13th Amendment which freed slaves.

However, even in the 13th Amendment, the concept of slavery and involuntary servitude remained enshrined in the American criminal justice system with the clause that enslavement could remain "as a punishment for crime."

The 14th Amendment ratified three years later in 1868 allowed for the right-to-vote to be stripped from those who participated in "rebellion, or other crime," the document reads. Before Election Day, those hoping to regain their rights had to wait five years and undergo an arduous process with the Florida Clemency Board.

More conversation

For Pastor Jarvis Wash, elections were more than just a civics lesson but a beacon of light in his own personal struggle. For nearly two years, Wash has been working to have his own rights reinstated while his R.E.A.L. Church has provided services to citizens like Thomas, struggling to overcome criminal records and prison stints

“I’m in the process of clemency and waiting on paperwork right now,” said Wash, a community activist who grew up on the hardened streets of Oakland, California. Wash has ministered to former gang members, prostitutes and others about his life and own time in prison for drug charges. Today, he is considered by many to be a bridge to a community searching for personal empowerment and growth.

“People are held back for the mistakes of their past. But I think the fact that this amendment passed is amazing. I think though that the discussion needs to continue. You may have some people who don’t know how to value this privilege so there needs to be some follow-up,” Wash said.

Search for dignity

That call for change and conversation is also about restoring the human dignity for people like Thomas and others who work and pay taxes but still find themselves under scrutiny from society because of their past. Mark Nikolic, 43, of Melbourne, hopes that the vote will push the conversation forward to help people like him who want to earn an honest living, participate in the politics and be seen as full citizens.

“I wanted to get a job on an oil rig in Texas, but they wouldn’t transfer my probation there,” Nikolic said. “They have a rule against taking people on probation with a violent record.”

The approval by Florida residents of the voting rights amendment gives him a small piece of his life back that he lost because of his crimes.

Nikolic was convicted of burglary in 2012 and aggravated battery in 2013, according to the Department of Corrections. Because of prison time and his inability to gain reinstatement, he's missed out on three presidential elections.

Nikolic was released from prison in 2014 but struggled to find work. Being on probation also restricted where he could work.

“I used to vote all the time,” Nikolic said. “I want to vote and make decisions that will be for the best for our community.”

Second Chances

Some like Thomas found other ways outside of the ballot box to have a positive impact on their communities. She is a teacher’s aide in an after-school program sponsored by Wash’s church in Cocoa. “I do what I can to get involved,” Thomas said, smiling.

Now she plans to listen even more attentively to politicians when they raise issues about criminal justice reform and healthcare. "I just want to say, thank you, thank you, thank you to the people of Florida for doing this," she said.

A return

Another church volunteer, Orlando Torrence, had watched the progress of Amendment 4 with a particular interest.

“Back then when I was young, the craziest thing was that I really didn’t care about anything, because I didn’t have to change,” said Torrence, 31, a former member of the Bloods gang whose early life was mired in trouble and a search to belong.

At age 14, he was sent to a military school after accidentally shooting a friend. “The bullet was two inches from her jugular,” he recalled. Then at 18, the young man with the big smile ended up in prison on a 3 1/2 year sentence for selling cocaine.

Another stint in prison came at 27 for a robbery charge.

This time, he had a child. This time, the reality of his life’s decisions began to strike home.

“Back then my role models were people on the street and I was listening to rappers who were giving this fairy tale view of life. What struck me was one day my son called me while I was in prison and I had to lie to him, tell him I was away in school. He said to me, ‘I want to go to your school so I can be with you.’ That hit me hard, I knew I had to change.”

To change, Torrence left the gang after harrowing attempts from some of his former friends to take his life. He arrived in Brevard with his fiance and took on a new life, getting his GED and attending church, working construction and plumbing. But he knew he wanted to do more.

An avid fisherman, he also watched with interest the impact of red tide on the environment. Now he wants to channel that interest to the ballot box and sees it as a second chance at citizenship. “I see how people were out fighting for us to have the chance to vote, to participate,” the father of three said.

“I’m going to register to vote. I’m a part of it now. That means I get to help make things right,” he said.